Royal Brunei review by Chris

I recently flew Royal Brunei from Melbourne to Jakarta via Brunei. We were attracted by the low fare compared to its rivals - Garuda Indonesia, Malaysia Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Qantas - although we decided to stay a night in Brunei, rather than fly straight through to Jakarta and arrive at 2am. The flights between Melbourne and Brunei were on Boeing 787; we were at the rear of the plane, where the row reduces from 9 seats to 8. The inflight entertainment was good, with two headphone jacks per PTV screen and a good range of movies. The food and the inflight service were above average. The best leg of the journey was on the way back from Jakarta to Brunei, on an Airbus A320 neo. The picture and sound quality of the IFE was much clearer; even the flight map was far superior. It was a very enjoyable flight. The only area of improvement was having to queue up at the gate a second time, so airport staff could check our in-flight luggage for liquids, aerosols and gels. I don't understand why this can't be done through the usual x-ray check like elsewhere.